PREP FOOTBALL: SURF 'N TURF : MCLAUGHLIN IS RIDING MOORPARK WAVE.Byline: Chris Cocoles Staff Writer Dylan McLaughlin almost feels as comfortable hanging 10 as hanging up passes for his Moorpark High receivers. ``I love surfing,'' said the Musketeers senior quarterback. ``I just started out two years ago, but you can usually find me at the beach on weekends.'' On Friday nights, McLaughlin has ridden a big wave of early success after throwing a handful of passes as a junior backup. Entering tonight's Marmonte League The Marmonte League is a high school sports league primarily made up of schools from Ventura County. The Marmonte Leauge is part of the CIF Southern Section. Click here to view the league schedule. game against visiting Royal, McLaughlin has thrown for 1,173 yards and six touchdowns in new head coach Tim Lins' offense. ``I know anyone could step in here and have a good year,'' a humble McLaughlin said. ``We have a lot of good receivers who I can get the ball to and some good running backs.'' A proficient pro·fi·cient adj. Having or marked by an advanced degree of competence, as in an art, vocation, profession, or branch of learning. n. An expert; an adept. quarterback definitely helps, and McLaughlin has caught on quickly despite being stagnant stagnant /stag·nant/ (stag´nant) 1. motionless; not flowing or moving. 2. inactive; not developing or progressing. for basically the past two seasons. As a sophomore, he missed the entire year with a stress fracture stress fracture n. A fatigue fracture of bone caused by repeated application of a heavy load, such as the constant pounding on a surface by runners, gymnasts, and dancers. in his back. He served as a clipboard A reserved section of memory that is used as a temporary holding area for data that is copied or moved from one application to another using the copy and paste and cut and paste (move) menu options. Each time you transfer something into the clipboard, the previous contents are deleted. holder in 1998, but in the summer passing leagues impressed Lins, who was coming over from Crespi. ``He picked up the offense pretty well,'' Lins said. ``I knew he'd be fine.'' McLaughlin doubted himself for a brief moment in his varsity start on Sept. 10 against Nordhoff despite throwing for 260 yards. He threw two interceptions, no touchdowns and the Musketeers lost 21-7. ``It's not exactly the perfect first game that you'd like to have,'' McLaughlin said. McLaughlin's talented group of receivers, led by surfing buddy Chris Vizzi (31 catches, 461 yards, three touchdowns) and Scott Rollins (16 receptions, 317 yards), made the chore of being the marquee quarterback easier. McLaughlin threw for a combined 353 yards and three touchdowns in league wins over Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. and Agoura. ``He was always under control,'' Vizzi said of McLaughlin's Week 1 struggles. ``He's a good quarterback. . . . He likes to take control out there, he's a good scrambler A device or software program that encrypts data for security purposes. See scramble. and he's pretty fast.'' Shifty shift·y adj. shift·i·er, shift·i·est 1. Having, displaying, or suggestive of deceitful character; evasive or untrustworthy. 2. on the field, but laid back away from it. McLaughlin does not have an in-your-face attitude in the huddle. ``I get pretty excited and we want to win pretty bad. . . . All in all I'm a pretty quiet guy,'' McLaughlin said. ``I'm verbal, but I'm not the kind of guy who's going to get out there and shout at people. The guys appreciate that. Nobody likes to see anyone else getting on their case.'' He has the perfect character traits for the Musketeers, who tend to shout `Let's have some fun' throughout their practices. Not that Lins isn't serious about winning. McLaughlin remembers the three days of weight lifting weight lifting, international sport, also a training technique for athletes in other sports. From the earliest times men have lifted weights as a test of strength. before sunrise during summer workouts. ``Coach Lins has set some pretty lofty goals for us to achieve. . . . (But) we go out there having fun. That's the key to Moorpark football.'' McLaughlin's sudden development is critical to the Musketeers' plans of making some noise in the Marmonte League. Despite being the pass-happy Marmonte's most prolific quarterback thus far, McLaughlin figures this will be his final go-round with football, though he'd be willing to listen to any prospective college recruiters. ``I figure this is my senior year; I'm just going out there and do my thing. Whatever happens happens,'' McLaughlin said. And there's always the beach. McLaughlin keeps his throwing arm in shape with his surfing partners Vizzi and running back Joe Papandrea. ``There's a lot of paddling pad·dling n. 1. The act of moving a boat by means of a paddle. 2. A spanking or beating with a paddle. Paddling of ducks: a company of ducks on water—Lipton, 1970. involved. I guess that's probably my secret workout Workout Informal repayment or loan forgiveness arrangement between a borrower and creditors. workout 1. The process of a debtor's meeting a loan commitment by satisfying altered repayment terms. tool for football. When I go out there for 2-3 hours at a time, I get a lot of work on my rotator cuffs rotator cuff n. A set of muscles and tendons that secures the arm to the shoulder joint and permits rotation of the arm. Also called musculotendinous cuff. ,'' said McLaughlin, waving his arms in a swimming motion. ``I enjoy (football and surfing) both. I've got some work to do to get better at both.'' McLAUGHLIN FILE Player: Dylan McLaughlin School: Moorpark Year: Senior Position: Quarterback Notable numbers: McLaughlin has thrown for 1,173 yards and six touchdowns CAPTION(S): Photo, box PHOTO Moorpark High QB Dylan McLaughlin has thrown for 1,173 yards. Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News Box: (ran in Simi edition only) McLaughlin File (see text) |
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